Integrated systems for testing and certifying the physical, functional, and electrical performance of IV pumps

Systems integrate in a straightforward and user-friendly manner the testing and certification of different functional and performance characteristics of intravenous pumps on site by non-technical people.

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Claims

1. A system for testing intravenous fluid pumps comprising:

a test station including a housing, a first component in the housing adapted to be coupled in liquid flow communication with either a first external intravenous fluid pump having a first specified performance characteristic or a second external intravenous fluid pump having a second specified performance characteristic different than the first specified performance characteristic, and a second component in the housing adapted to be coupled electrically to either the first pump or the second pump,
an input to designate one of the first pump and the second pump as a selected pump for testing, and
a controller coupled to the test station for operating the test station in response to the input in one mode controlling the operation of the first component to test at least one specified liquid flow characteristic of the selected pump and to generate a first test output regarding the specified liquid flow characteristic, and in another mode controlling the operation of the second component to test at least one specified electrical characteristic of the selected pump and to generate a second test output regarding the specified electrical characteristic.

2. A system for testing an intravenous fluid pump comprising:

a test station including a housing containing a component adapted to be coupled in liquid flow communication with an external intravenous fluid pump, and
a controller coupled to the test station including
an output element for prompting an operator,
an input element for receiving response from the operator to prompting of the output element,
the controller operating the test station in one mode controlling the operation of the first component to test at least one specified liquid flow characteristic of the pump and to generate a first test output regarding the specified liquid flow characteristic, and
the controller operating the input and output elements in another mode to generate a test prompt instructing the operator to inspect at least one specified functional element of the pump, to receive a test response from the operator to the test prompt, and to generate a second test output regarding the specified functional element based upon the test response.

3. A system according to claim 2

wherein the test station includes a second component contained in the housing adapted to be coupled electrically to the pump, and
wherein the controller operates the test station in yet another mode controlling the operation of the second component to test at least one specified electrical characteristic of the pump and generate a third test output regarding the specified electrical characteristic.

4. A system according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 wherein the specified liquid flow characteristic includes liquid flow rate.

5. A system according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 wherein the specified liquid flow characteristic includes liquid occlusion pressure.

6. A system according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 and further including a reporting station coupled to the controller for communicating at least one of the test outputs on alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.

7. A system according to claim 1 or 2 or 3 wherein the controller includes memory for storing at least one of the test outputs in a database.

8. A system according to claim 7 wherein the controller includes means for sorting the database according to specified criteria and generating a sorted output.

9. A system according to claim 8 and further including a reporting station coupled to the controller for communicating the sorted output in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.

10. A system for testing an intravenous fluid pump comprising

an output element for prompting an operator,
an input element for receiving responses from the operator to prompting by the output element, and
a controller coupled to the output element and the input element to generate a prescribed test prompt instructing the operator to visually inspect at least one specified functional element of the pump, to receive a test response from the operator to the test response, and to generate a test output regarding the specified functional element based upon the test response.

11. A system according to claim 10 and further including a reporting station coupled to the controller for communicating the test output in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.

12. A system according to claim 10 wherein the controller includes memory for storing the test output in a database.

13. A system according to claim 12 wherein the controller includes means for sorting the database according to specified criteria and generating a sorted output.

14. A system according to claim 13 and further including a reporting station coupled to the controller for communicating the sorted output in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.

15. A system according to claim 10

and further including a test station adapted to be coupled to the pump, and
wherein the controller is coupled to the test station to operate the test station to test at least one of a specified liquid flow characteristic and a specified electrical characteristic of the pump and to generate another test output regarding the tested characteristic.

16. A system for testing an intravenous fluid pump comprising

an output element for prompting an operator,
an input element for receiving input based upon prompting by the output element, and
a controller coupled to the input and output element, the controller operating the output element to generate a series of at least three test prompts, a first prompt instructing the operator to visually inspect a specified functional element of the pump, a second prompt instructing the operator to determine a specified liquid flow characteristic for the pump, and a third prompt instructing the operator to determine a specified electrical characteristic for the pump, the controller also operating the input element to receive a first, second, and third test response, respectively, for the first, second, and third test prompts and to generate first, second and third test outputs based upon, respectively, the first, second, and third test responses.

17. A system according to claim 16

and further including a test station adapted to be coupled to the pump in response to the second prompt, the test station including a component for receiving liquid flow from the pump, when coupled to the test station, and
wherein the controller is coupled to the test station for controlling the operation of the component to generate the second test response.

18. A system according to claim 17 wherein the second test response includes a measurement by the component of liquid flow rate.

19. A system according to claim 17 wherein the second test response includes a measurement of liquid flow occlusion pressure by the component.

20. A system according to claim 16

and further including a test station adapted to be coupled to the pump in response to the third prompt, the test station including a component that is electrically connected to the pump, when coupled to the test station, and
wherein the controller is coupled to the test station for controlling the operation of the component to generate the third test result.

21. A system according to claim 16

wherein the input element is operative for receiving responses from the operator to prompting by the output element, and
wherein the first test response comprises a response received by the input element from the operator.

22. A system according to claim 16 wherein the controller includes, memory for storing at least one of the first, second, and third test outputs in a database.

23. A system according to claim 22 wherein the controller includes means for sorting the database according to specified criteria and generating a sorted output.

24. A system according to claim 23 and further including a reporting station coupled to the controller for communicating the sorted output in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.

25. A system according to claim 16 and further including a reporting station coupled to the controller for communicating at least one of the first, second, and third test outputs in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.

26. A system for testing intravenous fluid pumps comprising

a test station adapted to be coupled to to any one intravenous pump selected from a group of intravenous pumps, each pump in the group having a different specified performance characteristic,
a processing station coupled to the test station comprising
memory for storing in a database the specified performance characteristic for each pump in the group,
an input to designate the one pump coupled to the test station as a selected pump for testing,
a controller coupled to the input for operating the test station to obtain an actual operating characteristic measured by operating the selected pump while coupled, to the test station, and
a comparator coupled to the input and memory for comparing the actual operating characteristic to the specified performance characteristic of the selected pump stored in memory and generating a test output for the selected pump based upon the comparison.

27. A system according to claim 26 and further including a reporting station for communicating the certification result in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format in a certification report.

28. A system according to claim 27 wherein the reporting station also communicates the actual operating characteristics in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format in a test results report.

29. A system according to claim 26 wherein the processing station includes means for updating the desired operating characteristic stored in memory.

30. A system according to claim 26 wherein the memory also stores the actual operating characteristic in a database unique to the selected pump coupled to the test station.

31. A system according to claim 26 wherein the memory also stores the certification output in a database unique to the selected pump coupled to the test station.

32. A system for testing an intravenous fluid pump comprising

memory for storing in a first database a master listing of tests for intravenous pumps,
memory for storing in a second database the desired operating specifications for a given intravenous fluid pump, and
processing means for compiling a test matrix unique for the given intravenous pump based upon the first and second database.

33. A system according to claim 32

wherein the second database includes a desired flow rate accuracy for the given pump, and
wherein the test matrix includes a test for determining the actual flow rate accuracy for the pump.

34. A system according to claim 32

wherein the second database includes a desired liquid occlusion pressure for the given pump, and
wherein the test matrix includes a test for determining the actual liquid occlusion pressure for the pump.

35. A system according to claim 32

and further including a test station adapted to be coupled to the pump,
and further including a processing station coupled to the test station and including the first and second database memories and the processing means, the processing station also including
a controller for operating the test station according to the test matrix to obtain an actual operating characteristic measured by operating the pump while coupled to the test station, and
a comparator for comparing the actual operating characteristic to the desired operating specifications, and generating a certification output based upon the comparison.

36. A system for testing an intravenous fluid pump comprising

a test station adapted to be coupled to the pump, the pump having a specified performance characteristic,
a processing station coupled to the test station comprising
an input to designate the pump coupled to the test station as a selected pump for testing,
memory accessible by the processing station for storing in a database multiple specified performance characteristics for a group of pumps, including the selected pump,
a controller coupled to the input for selecting among the specified performance characteristics stored in the database only the specified performance characteristic for the selected pump and for operating the test station, taking into account only the specified performance characteristic of the selected pump, to obtain an actual operating characteristic measured by operating the selected pump while coupled to the test station,
a comparator for comparing the actual operating characteristic to the specified performance characteristic of the selected pump selected by the controller from the database and generating a test output for the selected pump based upon the comparison, and
an output device coupled to the processing station for communicating the test output in alpha or numeric or alpha-numeric format.
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Other references
  • Brochure A Prior Art, medTester 1000B, (Electrical Safety Analyzer) Date unknown. Brochure B, Prior Art, medTester 5000B, (Electrical Safety Analyzer) Date unknown. Brochure C, Prior Art, Dale 600, Electrical Safety Analyzer Date unknown. Brochure D, Prior Art, Bio-tek Insturments, Inc. Infusion Device Analyzer (Electrical Testing Device) Date unknown. Brochure E, Prior Art, Infutest 2000 Date unknown. Advertisment F, Prior Art, Infutest 2000 Date unknown. Brochure G, Prior Art, Infutest 2000 Date unknown. Brochure H, Prior Art, IV Infusion Pump Analyzer 404A Date unknown.
Patent History
Patent number: 5856929
Type: Grant
Filed: Aug 19, 1994
Date of Patent: Jan 5, 1999
Assignee: Spectrel Partners, L.L.C. (Phoenix, AZ)
Inventors: Robert R. McClendon (Peoria, AZ), Aleandro Digianfilippo (Scottsdale, AZ)
Primary Examiner: James P. Trammell
Law Firm: Ryan, Maki, Mann & Hohenfeldt
Application Number: 8/293,537
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: 364/510; 364/509
International Classification: G01F 100;